If you are on your weight loss journey but all in vain, you should try to look at your sleep schedules. Are you taking enough sleep?
Many people thought two things about weight loss are eating less and more movement including exercise. It is more difficult and even not 100% accurate. Other factors are also involved like your sleeping schedule.
Sleep is important as your diet. Whenever someone is on a weight loss journey they mainly focused on diet and exercise. However, sleep is also an important factor. But we often neglect it. The normal sleep time for adults (ages 18 to 60) must be 7 hours or more every night. This amount increases by two hours that is 9 for adults ages 61 to 64.
Researches in accordance with sleep and weight loss:
Many studies have also shown the importance of proper sleep for weight loss.
- The studies in 2014 show that the American adults sleeping time were less than 7 hours. According to experts, taking proper sleep is healthy for your body and brain functioning. Sleeping less than 7 hours increases the risk of heart diseases, obesity, depression, and weight gain.
- Research studies showed that there is an inverse relationship between weight loss and sleep. There are high chances of successful weight loss if you have a long sleeping duration. That’s mean you must focus on taking proper sleep while losing weight.
- A study on women found that the chances of major weight gain increased by 32% in women having a sleeping schedule for 5 hours per night. This decreased by 20% in women who take 6 hours of sleep each night.
- Another study shows that sleeping less increases your eating habits which leads to weight gain. The person who is sleeping too little has more chances to gain weight.
- A research was conducted on the relationship between less sleep and obesity. According to its result, insufficient sleep causes you to eat more which in turn leads to obesity. In addition, it also reduces your energy. They also found that proper sleep promotes the maintenance of your health.
- A large study conducted by Nurse Health study found a relationship between sleep deprivation and weight gain. They found that women with less than 5 hours of sleep gained 1.15 Kg more weight than the women taking sleep for 7 hours.
- Sleep deprivation is a risk factor for weight gain in children and adults. A British study was conducted on children. According to their results, the kids who slept less than 10 hours by age 3 at night have a 45% high chance of becoming fat at the age of 7 in comparison to the kids who slept more than 12 hours at night.
In the light of all these studies, you can say that weight and sleep are inversely proportional to each other. If you have poor sleep then there are high chances of you gaining weight.
If you want your weight loss journey to be effective then you should also focus on your sleeping schedule. It must be 7 to 8 hours per night. It will absolutely help you with weight loss.
How poor sleep leads to weight gain:
There are many biological reasons behind this one should know. We cannot ignore the relation between sleep and weight. less sleep also effects your habits leading to weight gain.
Neurotransmitters (leptin and ghrelin):
Your appetite is increased when you are sleeping too little. Your appetite is basically controlled by neurotransmitters. They are chemical messengers in your body. Their function is to allow your nerve cells to communicate with one other. These two respective neurotransmitters are:
- Leptin
- Ghrelin
The two neurotransmitters ghrelin and leptin are your centers of appetite. When you are deprived of sleep and not taking enough sleep then your leptin level goes down. This is the most affected hormone if you are not getting enough sleep. Its main function is to suppress your appetite. So, when its level goes down it ultimately increases your appetite.
On the other hand, ghrelin level goes up. The function of this hormone is to trigger your hunger. As a result of your poor sleep duration, you feel hungry all the time. Because of your poor sleep, both hormones in your body are affected.
Insulin:
Insulin is also an important factor. It changes sugar and starch into energy. When your insulin is functioning properly your fat cells remove fatty acid from your bloodstream.
However, due to your poor sleep, your body ends up store more fats which lead to weight gain as your fats cell starts responding differently to it. This happens because your insulin starts to store fats in the wrong places. It increases your risk to gain weight and also diabetes.
Metabolism:
Sleep deprivation also affects your metabolism. Due to less sleep, your digestion becomes slow. As a result more fat starting to store in your body. A long time of sleep deprivation causes obesity and 2 types of diabetes.
However, some studies also found out that there is no relation between metabolism and weigh loss. So, more research is required to determine that poor or less sleep slows down metabolism or not.
Craving for unhealthy food:
According to a study in US Berkeley, not taking proper sleep leads to more cravings for junk food. When you lack sleep you are also more likely to make poor food choices for the sake of convenience.
You carve for junk like pizza and donuts. Lack of sleep has also an impact on your food selection. You are more likely to crave junk food. It will ultimately lead to weight gain. In addition, unhealthy food like pizza or burgers is also not good for your health.
Late-night cravings:
You also start to eat more at night. This means you have not enough time to digest food. This may lead to store energy as fat causing weight gain.
In a study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, researchers found that people with poor sleep tend to add 549 more calories each passing day which is more than enough for weight gain.
It happens because during deep sleep our brain produces growth hormone. And when you eat late-night snacks your growth hormone stores the food as fat instead of fuel. As result, you will end up gaining more pounds.
Deteriorate Muscle:
When you are taking less sleep, you may feel sluggish. You will involve in less physical activities. Due to lack of exercise and physical activities your muscle could deteriorate.
Muscle burns your calories even at rest. Muscles are known as an enemy of fats. But with the lack of sleep, your muscles could deteriorate leading to reduce their ability to burn off fat. Muscles loss can also cause serious injuries.
Less physical activity:
People with sleep deprivation avoid physical activity because of tiredness. As physical activity burns your fat, in case you move less, you will gain weight. Studies have shown that people who take less sleep spend more time watching TV and less time playing sports or doing any physical activity than the people who are getting enough sleep.
Impact on brain:
In addition to this lack of sleep also has an impact on your brain. Due to less sleep, your brain’s frontal lobe becomes dull. This part of the brain is the locus of decision making. This ultimately leads to making up bad decisions. In short lack of sleep is so bad for your body and health.
So, in case of sleep deprived you may not able to lose weight if you are trying to do so. All the reasons and researches show a maximum relationship between sleep and weight loss. One should also focus on taking proper sleep for better results for weight loss.
Best time to sleep for weight loss:
According to a new survey conducted by Forza Supplement’s best sleep time is 10:10 PM. It is the best time for your weight loss. According to research, it will not only help you to improve your sleep quality but also lessen your cravings for sugar. Less your carvings for food, less weight you will gain. This is very simple.
If you are getting up in the night, there are high chances for you to visit your fridge. So, earlier sleep will help you to lose weight. Moreover, they added that you should focus on discipline and routine for better results. For weight loss, one should adopt good habits including early sleep time, and stick to it. Make your sleep duration of about 7 or 9 hours.
Sleep in the afternoon also helps you to lose weight. According to a new study, people burn more calories while sleeping in the afternoon in comparison to early morning. Researchers from Harvard Medical School revealed that people burn 10% more calories during sleep in the afternoon than they do in the early morning.
Getting some sleep in the afternoon helps you to relax. In addition, it also helps you to remain calm. It also deals with anger issues. Researches also revealed that taking a short sleep in the afternoon improves your concentration and makes you more alert.
They also added short sleep during the daytime is a natural way to lower your blood pressure.
But for some people, there are also some drawbacks one should know. The people who are struggling with insomnia which is a sleep disorder- daytime sleep will not be beneficial for them. It may interfere with their nighttime sleep. Not all people trying to weight loss take benefits from daytime sleep. It may not help you to weight loss. They are not strong researchers for it.
Tips for you to take good sleep for weight loss:
In today’s time, it is very difficult for everyone to take proper sleep. Our youth now habitually sleep late at night. I can understand it is very hard for anyone to switch off their mobile phones or laptops and go for sleep. But with simple tricks, you can do it. Everyone’s health is in his/her hand.
Shutdown your gadgets:
Shut down your cell phones and laptops for at least one hour before going to sleep. It will surely assist you to urge better sleep.
Don’t work:
Relax your body. Stop working and watching seasons for entertainment. This may wake you up till late at night. So, avoid this.
Avoid heavy meals:
Before going to bed avoid heavy meals and drinking alcohol. Heavy meal causes you to weight gain during deep sleep as your brain growth hormone stores food as fats. Drinking alcohol close to bedtime makes your body metabolize it. This process will keep you from achieving a state of paradoxical sleep.
Avoid workout:
Exercise is good for health but avoid it before going to bed. Physical workout causes your heart to pump and wakes your body up. So, this will make it difficult for you to achieve a good sleep during the night. You can do your workout anytime during the day.
Make a schedule:
Most importantly make a schedule and stick to it. It may be difficult for you at the start but gradually you become used to it. It will prove very helpful for you.
Chronic stress:
Don’t take stress. Stress may cause poor sleep and weight gain.
Sleep in dark:
Switch off the lights before going to sleep. In the darkness, your body releases a natural hormone known as melatonin. It is a sleep hormone. Light suppresses its production.
Be an early bird:
Don’t be a night owl. Try to sleep early. Late bedtimes may cause you to consume higher calories. This ultimately leads to weight gain.
If you are not getting proper sleep it causes you obesity. In addition, if you sleep less continuously, then you may develop a condition known as sleep deficiency. It causes you depression, heart diseases, and also an early death.
One should focus on his/her sleeping during for weight loss and also a healthy life style.
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